Following the release of the highly-successful Blueprint 3, Rocafella artist Beanie Sigel used the second half of 2009 to call out his former mentor Jay-Z.
The private issues became public when Sigel released the diss track “Average Cat,” which he justified as appropriate retaliation to lines on Jay-Z’s “What We Talkin’ Bout.”
On Jay’s track, the mogul raps “Grown men want to sit on my lap/But I ain’t got a beard and Santa Claus ain’t black.”
Sigel counters by accusing Jay of having police force him out of the Power 99 Powerhouse concert in October.
“The rapper Shawn called the police on me/’Cause I was front row at the Blueprint 3,” Siegel raps. “S###, I just wanted to see him MC, and reminisce on when we was the R.O.C./But he called all the C.O.Ps, not only that, he brought out the F.E.Ds/So that’s telling me ‘F You Sieg,’/so F you too and F Bleek three.”
In an interview with Charlamagne tha God on 100.3 The Beat’s Morning Show, Sigel elaborated further that he felt Jay did not push the supporting members of Roc-A-Fella as he should have.
“Jay in another place and I understand that. He did what he did as far as signing people to Roc-A-Fella Records, you did that,” Sigel told Charlamagne Tha God. “But as far as the push that people coulda got that really could have did things, you didn’t do that. If you look at 50 Cent – no disrespect to the G-Unit, cause I love the way 50 Cent did with his dogs – but if you look at it, them dudes got more money and more bread than anybody in State Property. Because 50 made sure of that. 50 took his people on tour and paid them, not tell them it was a good look for them to be on tour.”
Jay-Z chose to respond a press conference interview with the site www.larueduhiphop.com.
“Beanie Sigel, to be honest and you can look it up, just to be honest…was driving two Bentleys. I don’t know how,” Jay-Z said. “Its impossible to drive two cars at the same time. With his momma in the sticks, selling 800,000. I don’t know what more you can do for somebody.”
“What people choose to do when they obtain that type of success, at some point you gotta look in the mirror and look at yourself,” Jay continued. “Beanie Sigel had a record deal, a record label and a clothing line…and never went platinum. Ever. I don’t know in the history of rap has anyone done so much with so little. So, I don’t know what more can you do for a person at that point. A record deal – that’s normal. A record label and a clothing line. If that’s not pushing the person…s###.”
Sigel’s words became more confrontational in November, when he aligned himself with Jay-Z rival 50 Cent. The Queens emcee had recently begun insulting his fellow mogul in interviews with references such as “Mr. Knowles” after quote from Jay stating “no one is afraid of 50 Cent.”
According to 50, it was Jay-Z who blocked a potential deal to bring Sigel to G Unit.“He [Beanie Sigel] would have got at least $800,000 at that point to come over,” 50 Cent told Miss Jones on Power 99 in Philadelphia. “Jay was telling him that he didn’t want to lose him. I think Jay and Puffy had these feelings toward me at one point I believe. They didn’t want to lose anything to me, while their energy was going on. Puff didn’t want to sign the Mase deal and Jay didn’t want to do that.”
Sigel and 50 furthered their words for Jay with the collaboration “I Go Off.” On the song, 50 ridicules Jay-Z over the allegation that money has changed his values.
“You changed man. You let the money change you Jay,” 50 accused. “You’s a ‘pass the Grey Poupon’ n####. N#### feed the wolves or the wolves eat you. Eat your ass alive.”
“He’s a crumb. I’m putting my foot on his neck ‘til he responds. Please make a record, ‘cause a week been out dog,” Sigel added in November. “Not taking nothing from Jay as an artist. All I’m saying is I ain’t gotta jog to keep up with him. Watch what I do next.”
To date, Jay-Z has not addressed Beanie Sigel or 50 Cent outside of his initial comment on the situation.
Beanie Sigel has proclaimed that he is now signed to G Unit, although whether the partnership is official legally has not been verified.
